


Till We Meet Again

by Charlie9646



Series: Life As We Know It [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Children, Death, Depression, F/M, Grandchildren, Grief, HEA, Heaven, M/M, Meeting Again, Widow, dying of old age, married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:06:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22168330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlie9646/pseuds/Charlie9646
Summary: Till we meet again to his parents and the love of his life. Death is only the beginning, it is surely not the end.Hermione lived over twenty years without her husband. When she finds out she’s dying she does not fight it.When you lose yourself bit by bit it’s hard to know how much you have lost. Old age, like dying is just a part of living.
Relationships: Ginny Weasley/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Series: Life As We Know It [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1490183
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	Till We Meet Again

Hermione Jean Snape turned seventy-four today, one year older than Severus got to be. Her hair was now thin, silver and still wild curls. Her skin was worn, wrinkled and reminded her vaguely of old parchment. She walked over to the stove and put her kettle on. She lived alone now, just as she had done since her husband had died.

This weekend her children and grandchildren would have a birthday party for her. Hermione insisted that they wait, no need to take off work just remind her she was a year older. They just shook their heads, knowing once she made her mind up it was easier to move a mountain than to change it. Whether or not she was wrong.

Her grandchildren we're now having children of their own. Holly was turned thirty this year, she couldn't believe it, this year she would have a grandchild who had lived for three decades. With two children of her own. She wished Severus was here to see what their family had become. That he was here to see what the world around them had become.

So, he could see that their sacrifices all those decades ago had been worth it. To see that the war against Voldemort had faded into history like the Goblin wars before it. Hermione was one of the few people alive now, who remembered the war. Harry was another, her closest friend was still alive. He was a widower, Ginny passing of a heart attack just last summer. Ron was dead, died due to a stroke a few years ago.Luna was still alive, though she had never married.

George, Angela, Charlie, Bill, Fleur, Draco, and Percy the list went on and on. It felt not unlike the war itself, but this was in a far more drawn out, far more painful in a way, but also less. When you reach the age she had, you start to realize you must be grateful for every single day you have because it may be your last. There was a time nearly two decades ago that she did not feel grateful for every single day. There was a point in time that Hermione simply wanted to die, and seriously considered taking her own life.

The loss of her beloved husband clouded her mind, broke her heart, and shattered her very soul. Death may have been welcomed then. It may have even been wanted. She dared not seek it out or take her own life. Not because she did not want to die, but the harm it would cause her loved ones. The fact that she might never see her husband again in the next life if she did so.

It seemed like a lifetime ago, now looking back. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she hugged her husband, or kissed him, or made love to him. Soon she would see Severus again. Soon, she was not going to make it happen sooner, just as she would not all those years ago. Hermione was dying not in the same sense that Severus had been, but it also the same in the fact she was dying.

Her healers expected with how badly her heart was going to give out on her something to do with blockages, too many to fix. Maybe it spoke to the fact she was lonely, or tired or simply in far too much pain. Hermione Jean the bulldozer, the know it all, member of the golden trio, former unspeakable, and so much more did not have very much fight left in her.

Fighting was for the strong. Fighting was for those that felt that had to stay on this earth. Her children were now grandparents, her grandchildren now parents and all she wanted most of all was to be reunited with her husband and all others she cared for who had gone before her.

Hermione Jean Snape hoped in a small part of her heart and mind that simply maybe one day she just wouldn't wake up. The truth was then she wouldn't make her family suffer. She wanted to be here one day and gone the next. They watched Severus die, she didn't know if they could survive her death as well. The act of dying, of Severus’s dying nearly tore their very family apart all those years ago.

But, on the same token, she wanted to spend time with her great-grandbabies, she wanted to have tea with Harry, she wanted to hear about Maren’s new idea, see Alan’s newest painting, hear about Scorpius’s newest potion, she wanted to experience life. She wanted to take everything in for all those who were not here to be able to, but also for herself.

Hermione poured her cup of tea and sat down at her kitchen table. The one with drawings from her children and grandchildren on the underside. There wasn't a sound in the house besides her own breathing. Ellie her cat was likely outside in her yard. The only other living thing that resided in the house.

This house was full though, full of memories, dreams, wishes, and ghosts. It was full of a life well-lived. A life that Hermione wouldn't trade for another lifetime. Not ever. Not even to have Severus back. No matter how much she missed him.

She could see it in her mind, all their Christmas mornings, Salazar sleeping on his bed, Severus telling his grandchildren a story. She could see them making love one day nearly fifty years ago on the couch that sat in the corner. She could see a life, her life, his life, their life together, and all of those they had touched. Those memories were worth more than all the Galleons in the world.

Now Hermione lived in those memories; because they brought her far more comfort than her reality.

Holly was going to stop by to check on her, Rose would come by tomorrow, her children and grandchildren we're worried for her.

She couldn't understand that they didn't seem to understand that whether death was coming for her today, tomorrow or even next month, death was still coming. But, she hoped she would get to greet old friends when it did come to take her home. Death was no longer the monster who slept in the closet, it was the safe arms to go into.

Everything was in place, ready for the time when it did. The things she had from a life well lived would go to her family, and she would be laid to rest next to her dearly departed husband.

Harry claimed she was depressed, but so was he. His own green eyes had lost their spark when Ginny had died. He of all people should understand what the feeling of being one of the last alive of your generation, felt like.

Hermione finished her tea, set her teacup in the sink, and let Ellie inside. She leaned heavily on her cane and went to go sit in her chair by the fire. The chair that had once been Severus’s. She pulled the blanket around her tightly, then she shut her brown eyes and went to sleep. She would never wake up again.

************************

Holly would think when she found her about how peaceful her grandmother looked. She would take Ellie home with her, just as her gran wanted. To her own children, Ellie would become Mia’s cat. She was just going to start at Hogwarts this fall.

The girl with the wild curls would be sorted into Gryffindor, one day she would meet a boy who might one day become her husband. He was a few years older than her. They would finally get together a decade and a half after meeting.He was the Slytherin head boy, who seemed to just want to push her buttons for not being in the same house as her great grandfather Severus Snape.

How they would meet for the first time was Ellie decided to get into said boy’s things one day in the great hall. It was the circle of life, as others die others will be born. Others will go to school, or church or work. The world does not stop because one single person takes their last breath. No matter how much those who lost someone wish the world would stop turning for them, it does not.

A week later, Harry watched as his closest friend was lowered into the ground. Professor Potter, they called him now, rightly so. He was the longest holder of the position of defense against the dark arts professor. But, one day soon, Headmaster Snape-Malfoy, who Harry knew better as Alan, the former Potion’s master of Hogwarts, not unlike his father before him, would have to find a new DADA professor. 

Though a late in life daughter of Daphne Greengrass and Theo Nott, Melody Nott was showing an interest in the position. 

Alan unlike his father before him, wanted to be there, and that meant he was a far better teacher than his father had ever been.

The idea of a great-granddaughter of a former death eater did not worry or even scare Harry. No , it made him proud. Why did it make him proud? Because it meant that they had left the past behind them.

The truth was life kept going, whether you liked it or not. Part of that was accepting the descendants of those who had wronged you not bear the crosses of the people before them. That meant trusting them, in places so near and dear to Harry’s heart as Hogwarts. He wanted in a hundred more years for the name the ”boy who lived” to be a distant as that of some long-dead king, worthy of being remembered, but not someone who you would dwell on what would he do?

Some day soon Harry would be dead and gone, and that meant he would be a thing if history. As would his friends and even his loved ones. Nearly no alive today remembered Sirius Black’s laugh, Remus Lupin’s smile, Tonks tripping over things, the twinkle in Dumbledore’s eyes, Severus’s speech to his first years, barely anyone alive remembered Fred Weasley, or Dobby, Moody and so many more. It was as if to many they had never existed at all.

Teddy Lupin was now a grandfather. His sons as well. 

No one alive today knew Harry’s parents. Not one single bloody person. All that was left now was cold stone, photos, and stories that we're repeated so many times no one remembered what the story truly was.   
  


But, these were all simply a fact of life, dying is easy living is hard. Severus said to him. 

Though, Luna once told him, Harry trying to stop the passing of time is like trying to stop a wave, impossible. Death and life go hand in hand, without one we would not have the other. If you are never born, you never die, but you also never get to live. Dying is simply the price we pay for living.

************************

Hermione stood in an alley,in what could be London, or what she at least thought was London. It was raining soaking straight through her cloak. She looked down at her hands and realized she was young again. Her skin was smooth and unwrinkled. Her vision sharp and clear, even without her glasses. Her joints did not ache anymore.

She was happy, but yet she could not remember how she got here or why she was here. But, then she remembered this morning. She remembered waiting for Holly to visit her, aka check up on her. And then laying down to take a nap, but she's dead now?

Well, that was interesting she thought, Harry, did not tell her it would be like this. Shouldn't she be at King’s Cross Station? She shook her head, thinking logically. Her experience was different than Harry, so of course, her afterlife(?)would be different. Or would the better term be gateway?

Hermione’s mind hadn't been this nimble for at least close to five years. It had been what she could only describe as foggy for the last few years of her life. Clouded by depression, surely, but that had been there since Severus had died. The difference was for the last few years she had lost her freedom, her ability to do things. She hadn't been to Severus’s grave for at least a year and a half before she had died.

She wondered if she had one of those muggle diseases that affected your mind, looking back, but it did not matter. She was now dead, and shockingly with that, her mind was restored to what it once was.

Hermione then remembered where she was. And then she saw him. He was unmistakable to her. His old fashioned coat, long legs, hair just a little too long, next to him was a rather large brown dog. Said dog wore no leash but kept in perfect step with the man.

She called out unable to stop herself just as she had done all those years ago, ”Severus”.

He spun on his heel, but instead of snarling, he smiled. One of his rare smiles he saved for her, their children and their grandchildren.

Severus said, ”Hermione, how I have missed you.”

Hermione said, ”And I you.”

He said, ”I wanted you to take a long time to come, but I also wanted to see you again so badly. How are the children, and our grandchildren?”

She said, ”Holly is a mother now, her daughter Mia is heading to Hogwarts in the fall. Maren is going off to Paris now, or at least I hope. She wanted to take care of me, and that was that kept her in England. Alan, he's headmaster at Hogwarts. Rose, she's working in ministry still.

Mark, he's getting engaged this summer, and he wants to teach potions one day. Andy is a Quidditch player, he got that from his mum of course....”

Severus shut his eyes and said, ”I have missed so much. I should have been with you for all those things. I should not if left you alone. You should have spent the end of your life with your husband and instead, you were alone.”

Hermione said, ”Not by your choice... Though.”

He said, ”You know I love you more than anything, right?”

She said, ”Of course... And I love you.”

Severus said, ”Hermione... I would like you to meet someone.”

Hermione's heart was in her throat and her stomach at her feet. No, it couldn't be. It could not be that after decades together, after meeting each other again, he would not tell her that he actually still loved Lily Evans Potter, and Hermione had only been her replacement. She was simply her fill in.

But, Hermione told herself no, that was not the case. Surely not. Not after his Patronus being so different from what it had been for decades. It said that his very soul had changed because of his love for her. They were the true soulmates. The bull elephant was proof of his love for her. Gone was that wretched doe and all that it stood for, which meant his love for her was far stronger than the emotions he had felt for Lily.

Severus reached out his hand for hers and she latched onto it. They walked down the alley Salzar following along. He stepped into a doorway and opened a door. A woman stepped out of the door, she wore a heavy black cloak and an old fashioned Victorian style dress. She reminded her of Narcissa Malfoy, decades ago, back when Hermione was at Hogwarts.

The woman said, ”Hello Hermione, I know you don't know all that much about me, but I have heard so much about you. My name is Eileen Prince. I am Severus’s mother.”

The woman took off the hood of her cloak. Hermione was faced with a pale, dark-haired witch, her eyes were black, though they were bright. Her features were narrow but had a softness her son seemed to lack.

Hermione threw her arms around Eileen and said to the woman, ”I am so happy to finally meet you.”

Eileen said, ”And I you. Thank you for teaching my son that people are capable of loving him. I didn't do a rather good job of that over the years. And then there was Lily Evans, who was surely a waste of space if I have ever met one.”

Severus hissed, ”Mother! Lily and I were just friends. It was not her job to save me. It was not her job to be my replacement family and lover to boot. She owed me nothing, and then I called her that horrible name...”

Eileen said, ”Potter, his gang and your own housemates called you far worse, my son. Like I said she was not a nice person.”

Severus said, ”How many times do I have to say it, mother, she died saving her son, and in the process saved the wizarding world. She died because of my actions! As did her husband.”

Eileen said, ”Someone else, Severus would have shared the prophecy, my child. You should not nail yourself to crosses that are not yours to bear. Am I right Hermione?”

Hermione said, ”I tried to tell him that for decades.”

Eileen laughed, ”Thick skull on that one, been that way since he was a child. But he does get that from me. I was like that so long ago about his father. I knew he was wrong for me. But would I leave? No. Because to do so meant that I was admitting everyone else was right. Now let us forget about such sad times. I would like to hear about my grandchildren. Will you tell me about them?”

Severus gave his mother a look, and she said, ”How about I meet you two for dinner tonight? Severus has decided to be friends with Remus and Tonks. They keep on inviting me over to join them, and now I have a reason to. Enjoy your time together, you two, you have forever now.”

Eileen stepped back inside her home and shut the door.

Severus said, ”Ignore her”.

Hermione said as she grabbed onto his collar, ”Why? I agree with her.”

He said, ”She only wants to remember the good that I have done.”

She said, ”Bloody hell, Severus, you made it to heaven. You're a good person, whether you see it or not.”

He shut his eyes and said, ”Everyone says that, besides Potter, and even we are now on speaking terms.”

Hermione said, ”We have forever, Severus, to figure the rest out. Now do what I have wanted you to do since I saw you and bloody well, kiss me.”

************************

Severus Snape for once in his life did exactly as he was told.And they all lived happily ever after. One day their children would come, and then the grandchildren. Then you see Hermione the member of the golden trio would be a distant memory a piece of history, no different than the great heroes who came before her.

Severus Snape though, some would speak his name in harsh whispers around the fire. The former death eater turned spy, the turncoat, who saved the wizarding world and nearly died for it. The former potion’s professor who put the fear of God, no fear of himself in his students. The former headmaster, who lied to Voldemort himself. The killer of Albus Dumbledore, at the man’s request. The one who gave the chosen one what he needed to win the war.

The man who lived as a muggle, only to be found by a young witch. The man who fell in love raised a family and lived the life of his own choosing. But most of all he died by his own choosing. They shall call him neither light nor dark, but a beautiful shade of grey.

His memory shall live on in the lives he saved, and the sacrifices he made.

Alan’s last piece of artwork as headmaster of Hogwarts was his best. Decades after his mother died he hung it in the headmaster’s office. Much to the protests of the portraits that surrounded him. It was of his father, of the man he was when Alan was just as a child. The man with a small smile, intelligent eyes, dressed in a muggle suit. And next to him was Hermione, with her wild hair, her gentle intelligent eyes, they were just as he remembered them all those decades ago.

But, behind them were their Patronuses, in all their glory. His father had once been Headmaster after all? Surely his portrait should be here as well. But, unlike the rest, he should have Hermione with him, because unlike the rest it took him nearly a lifetime to find the love of his life.

Soon Alan would see them again. He knew that he could feel it in his very bones. Scorpius was gone as well, and surely he too was waiting until they met again. He was a great grandfather now, soon a professor would become the new headmaster. She was a granddaughter of Ron Weasley, but change was good. All change was good, it showed the passing of time.

Till we meet again thought Alan as he hung the portrait up. Till we meet again to his parents and the love of his life. Death is only the beginning, it is surely not the end.

The End, to the series who made me a better writer, person, and makes me sad to finish, but also happy that I saw it through.


End file.
